Wildflower Bread Co. - The Food

The best part of our experience at Wildflower Bread Co. (WBC) last night was without a doubt the food. The atmosphere was good and with the hospitality that was shown to us, it did give that feeling of being at home, but the food will make you come back again.

WBC served a 5 course meal to us, in smaller portions to what they normally serve, to give us a sampling of their fall menu. Both Julie and I will review each course to give you a couple different perspectives.

Apple Streusel Pancakes

Brian: The caramel-praline syrup sold me on these. It was good enough to drink on it's own. It came delightfully warm with the buttermilk pancakes. It was the 1st example of the way WBC pays attention to the minor details. The currants and pecans in the soft pancakes added a nice crunchy texture. They could almost serve the pancakes and syrup as a desert, it's that decadent.

Julie: This was such a scrumptious "meal". The short stack of these pancakes include 3 - 2oz pancakes and the entree includes 3 - 3oz pancakes. We had 2 of the 2oz buttermilk based pancakes. The smell was heavenly! The pancakes had large chunks of apples, walnuts, topped with brown sugar and powdered sugar. The pancakes were light and flavorful on their own without the syrup and transformed into a fluffy caramel apple when dipped in the caramel praline syrup. The syrup was a bit sugar-y and I would be a little more cautious with it if I was actually eating this as my first meal of the day. I used a little bit of the butter on the pancakes but it didn't need it at all.

Fiery Butternut Squash Salad

Brian: This was my least favorite part of the meal, partially because I am normally not a big fan of squash. The squash itself was soft & moist, and the spice they added to the squash is a nice touch. It added that extra kick that can make food a bit more enjoyable. I thought there was a bit much of the cranberry-balsamic vinaigrette, so perhaps having it on the side might be better.

Julie: I like butternut squash and was looking forward to trying this salad. The salad had butternut squash that was roasted in maple syrup, sundried spicy corn and a great variety of greens. The salad comes with a great hunk of perfect sourdough bread. The squash had a nice "kick" to it becuase of the red pepper in the squash and it had a nice light texture. The gorgonzola added a nice tart balance to the bit of sweetness from the cranberry-basalmic vinaigrette dressing. I think though, if I ordered the salad again, I would get the dressing on the side.

Turkey & Cranberry Walnut Stuffing Sandwich

Brian: One of my favorite parts of the meal. A wonderfully thick sandwich that has every taste you could want out of one of these mini-meals. When the owner, Louis, was describing it my immediate comment was "You had me at bacon.". Yes, this Turkey Day inspired sandwich has bacon! Perfect. They also include a spiced mayo. Normally, I don't like mayo. On this sandwich...awesome. I already want another one.

Julie: The original size of this sandwich was enormous. One thing that Louis mentioned was the desire to reduce portion size and this, to me, would be one of the areas in which that could be applied. That said, the concept of this sandwich was really cool. The two thick slices of bread were really delicious and I love the concept of the Stuffing Loaf (made with carrots, celery, sage, and pecans - ready for the thanksgiving day turkey!). Then there were also small chunks of cranberry-walnut stuffing as the first layer on top of the herb mayo, which was not heavy nor overbearing. Then a few thin slices of turkey, then great quality medium sliced bacon slices, cranberry sauce and finally, another slice of stuffing loaf to top it off. I actually had to take the sandwich apart and slice off pieces of the sandwich and then eat it with a fork. The taste was a great blend of all of the tastes of a thanksgiving meal!

Butternut Squash Ravioli

Brian: I was surprised by how much I liked this dish. It's topped with a walnut cream sauce that is great for dipping the grilled garlic bread that comes with it. There's a wonderful warmth to the ravioli as well. I was impressed by how well the butternut squash worked with the cream sauce.

Julie: Again, as a fan of butternut squash, I was really looking forward to this dish as well. IT WAS HEAVENLY! The sweetness of the squash was enhanced by the nutmeg. The creamy texture of the ravioli went perfectly with the walnut cream sauce. I also appreciated the slight hint of red pepper to compliment the sweetness of the squash. I could definately eat the large portion of this dish! In addition, as a huge fan of garlic, the smell of the thick slice of garlic bread that accompanied this dish was enough to want to make me hang it from my rear view mirror. YUM!

Pumpkin Pie, Roasted Nut Pie and Pumpkin Cheesecake served with Mayan Chai Latte (Yes, they served us 3 deserts.)

Brian: It's hard for me to pick a favorite out of the deserts. Without a doubt, I loved the latte. It was another favorite out of the meal. It had cayenne pepper in it, and I felt it as the latte went down my throat. The pumpkin pie is super creamy and melts in your mouth. The roasted nut pie is great. Think pecan pie, just add 5 more nuts. Crunchy and melty at the same time. The pumpkin cheesecake is wonderful, too.

Julie: I was pleasantly surprised with the selection of desserts. I love pumpkin during this time of year and it's great when it's incorporated into any sort of dessert! The pumpkin pie could barely keep its shape because it was so creamy and fluffy. The texture was so good that it almost didn't need a crust. The Pumpkin Cheesecake was also a delight! The cheesecake was fluffy and light which I appreciated because I could have eaten the entire piece. As for the Roasted Nut Pie, I was a bit skeptical because I usually don't like pecan pie or other similar desserts. The blend of 6 nuts was nice and wasn't "sticky" like other pecan pies. I don't usually like Chai Lattes but they offered to make mine with soy milk. Besides the abundance of foam (I'm not really a coffee drinker either) the taste was good. It was a nice blend of spicy chocolate and warm goodness.

As we left, the staff of WBC gave each of us who participated in this Tastecasting event a bag with 3 loaves of freshly-baked bread: Pumpkin cinnamon, cranberry walnut and stuffing loaf as well as 3 potato rolls. From the smell, they promise to be just as good as what we've already eaten. I can't wait to go back to Wildflower Bread for another meal.